Nighttime stories for all ages
by Ramendobe
Summary: Pre-movie. Megamind breaks in for another kidnapping, but ends up listening to a bedtime story please review and fave! :D


Roxanne sighed. Putting a very energetic child to sleep would be one of those things she would've, without hesitation, stuffed in her collection of 'impossible stuff'.

But how do you _do_ the impossible things, Roxanne found herself asking as she tiredly glared down at the giddy child on her sofa.  
Surely, it would take a lot of plotting and planning, thinking ahead of the child who was so desperately clinging onto the later hours of the evening.

"Now Jenny, I think its time for us to say goodnight and hello to mr. pillow…" She started, hushing her words very softly but yet so strong to the child who now shifted her eyes from the TV up to Roxanne's blue eyes.

"B-But Roxiiiii" The child pleaded, pouting her lips as she did so.

Gosh. Roxanne really didn't know much about taking care of kids, and were very optimistic when her CO worker asked for her help to take care of Jenny- her daughter, while she went to do some "unfinished business".

Roxanne had cringed pretty badly once her friend brought it up, and Roxanne slowly kept declining her request over and over, telling her just how little experience she had with kids.

That, though, didn't stop her friend from nagging and begging all week, and then it came to the point where Roxanne had no other choice but to accept it.  
Why couldn't someone else take care of the little dare devil, she had muttered. Her friend knew so incredibly many people, so why pick her- the most inexperienced person in the bunch?

No matter. She was here now, with the child, and the day couldn't have gone any better than it did, and Roxanne left herself feeling very surprised that they actually got along pretty well. It even left her thinking that maybe she could take care of Jenny more days than just today.

But now, however, things didn't seem very bright. How do you even go from energetic to sleepy?

Roxanne stood up from the sofa and made her way to the kitchen, feeling two curious eyes burning in her neck.

"what are chu doing?" Jenny asked curiously, eyes bigger than ever and the neck twisted uncomfortably to get a better view of what her babysitter was up to.

Roxanne smiled to herself. "Im making a magic sleep potion. Do you want some?"  
Roxanne poured milk into a pot and started to heat it up on the stove while she heard Jenny gasp excitedly.

"But you gotta go and get ready first, honey. And you need to lie down in your bed to make it work, so chop chop, go!"

"Okay!" The child squealed as she in one quick motion went from the sofa to the bathroom, making Roxanne jump in surprise before cracking up yet another smile.

 _Kids._

* * *

It certainly was one of those late night kidnappings again for sure. He promised himself again and again that he would stop going through with them but he really just couldn't seem to stop himself.

It was one of those nights again where he just couldn't stop thinking and his head wouldn't stop spinning in the direction of negativity.  
It was during the night, the thoughts that he didn't dare to think, was yet again brought up to the surface.

His best friend insisted that it was depression and that he had insomnia, as well as severe childhood trauma.  
That fish just worried way too much, Megamind thought. He didn't have any problems at all, as a matter of fact, he felt super-fine all the time.

It was just that, he couldn't seem to stop himself from thinking.

And he found this thinking being quite painful, not that he would admit that of course. Villains didn't feel any pain. _And he sure wasn't depressed!  
_

The only thing that could actually stop all of this negative thinking, was a certain sassy star reporter with her quick wits and daring smiles. Nothing worked him up better, and made his head clear of nasty thoughts, than _her._

His victim of course. Kidnapping people surely would lift any villains' spirit up!  
Its not like he enjoyed Roxanne Ritchi's company nor anything.

Its not like he felt like she was the only thing that made any sense to him in his upside down world.

No.

Because that would've been absurd.

 _Completely insane.  
_

Quietly, he parked his hover bike on her balcony and, with heavy eyes, analyzed her cosily lit apartment through the closed glass doors.  
Her place always made him calm, like he could sleep anytime, anywhere, as long as it was in her apartment. Even nightmares wouldn't bother him here, behind these strong comforting walls.

When sliding the unlocked glass doors open, he quickly got hit by a strong scent of warm milk, and early memories from his childhood, where the warden in some special occasions made him warm milk when he was sick and needed sleep.

Feeling the fuzzy feeling in his chest swell, he let a smile spread across his features as he took another step forward and closed the balcony door behind him. Taking a deeper breath of the perfectly warm air made his vision go blurry and his head spin with exhaustion.

Then, like a angel, he heard soft voices coming from one of the rooms, and he very well knew, that it was Roxanne's voice.  
It was different, though, from her usually sharp sarcastic tone in her voice, but more nurturing, just like a mother securing her child from everything that could ever make the child feel unsafe.

Walking closer to the sound, Megamind briefly wondered if he were dreaming. Everything was so hazy, so blurry, so warm and cosy- so surreal.

Walking by the kitchen, he indeed spotted the pot with the warm milk in, that he smelled the very first moment he opened that balcony door.

Without not really thinking, and not really caring that he's not thinking for once, he poured up the last of the milk into a mug and kept walking towards Roxanne's voice while sipping the milk, enjoying every soothing stroke it gave his throat.  
~

His knees falling weak now and his head spinning warm and dazedly, he let his aching body get a rest on the floor, right next to the door where Roxanne kept murmuring with that heart-warming voice.  
With his head and back against the wall, and his legs spread out just in front of him, he let himself fully feel his exhaustion that had been building up for weeks.

He knew that he should get up and take action, but not yet.

Just not _yet_.

His eyelids grew heavier by every word that escaped Roxanne's pure lips, his heart rate slowing down to his own calming steady breaths.

Closing his eyes, he let himself imagine his own mother, lying right there next to him with a reassuring smile and a steady beating heart, protection pouring into him from her strong surrounding arms, showing him that everything will be okay, that leaving his faith and worries in her hands would be completely fine.

He heard the tingling sound of Roxanne's delicate hands flipping the page of a book. There was a comfortable silence and a cough, before her comforting voice began to soothe and lull him back into the daze again.

He felt his body go numb underneath him and he knew that he for the very first time in weeks, started to lose consciousness.

But for all he knew, he didn't care.

He couldn't stand to move away from this perfect maze. This is where he wanted to be and this is where he felt like familiarity and love could come pouring into him and make him feel secured from everything that hurts.

This was a place where his thoughts couldn't reach him.

A place where he felt peace for the very first time since he got lulled to sleep by his parents, who so lovingly laid on each side of him, letting his tiny blue hands curl each of their digits.

This was a place where even the wrong words seemed to rhyme and where even the stars refused to shine.

This was a place he'd call _home._

* * *

Roxanne slowly and very quietly closed the door behind her, careful not to wake up the little one, who now was fast asleep.

Being quite dozy herself from all of that warm milk and lost in the previous moment, she felt like she could go straight into bed instead of sitting up at least two more hours on the couch with some whine and a good movie, like she'd first planned to do.

But gosh she was just so incredibly _exhausted_ right now.

Caught up in her cloudy haze, she suddenly tripped on something that wasn't there before.  
Whipping her head back, already glaring at the unidentified object, she found herself gulping like a fish at the tiny alien curled up right next to her doorframe.

Pure, innocent green eyes slowly flickered open and Roxanne just stood where she was, completely baffled by the fact that Megamind was there, right outside the room as if he'd been listening to her bedtime story along with Jenny.

His electric green eyes trailed up her body and stopped when their eyes met.

He didn't look wicked.

Hell, he didn't even look embarrassed.

He just looked…peaceful. And very, _very_ exhausted.

His eyes were bloodshot and his body seemed like it weighed more than he could carry, and therefore just laid-and hung limp along the floor.

Roxanne felt like what he looked like, and it made her crack a genuine short laugh.  
She knew what it felt like to be exhausted and she surely knew how hard it was to even get sleep at some nights even though her body felt heavy as lead.

She didn't know much about super villains, but she, however, did know when a person _really_ needed sleep, and he was one of them.

"hey," she said soothingly, smiling down warmingly at him. "lets get you to bed."

Megamind only nodded tiredly with his eyes barely open, and Roxanne wasn't sure if he even was awake or not.  
No matter, she thought to herself. It'll spare him the humiliation, and for once, she kind of felt sympathy for him.

Did he even have someone to take care of him when he was younger? Who'd hush him to sleep?  
Who carried him into his bed when he'd accidentally fallen asleep on the couch?

She didn't know, and she left her questions be unanswered because if she'd known the truth, it would've left her heartbroken.

"Come on big boy," She breathed as she hauled him up to her back and started walking towards her bedroom.

* * *

After removing Megaminds cape, boots, shoulder pads and belt, she had hauled the unconscious skinny alien onto her bed and- after quiet some struggle- managed to get him underneath the covers.

Now, she felt like she could finally relax and let her exhaustion take over. No more worries for tonight, she thought. _I could just worry about that in the morning, but right now I just want to sleep._

She turned off the light and curled herself up in the cold but cosy comforter, and after a moment of silence, she found Megaminds presence giving quite the calming effect on her.

"I've missed this," Megamind suddenly murmured through the pillow. His voice was hoarse and Roxanne knew that he must be talking in his sleep.

"Missed what?" she asked softly, too softly to someone like him, but she didn't mind.  
She couldn't.

"To finally be back home."

His words pierced her heart like one of the sharpest arrows had been shot straight through her, and she found herself gasping for more heavy air cause she couldn't get enough.

People fall asleep where they feel like they're safe- a place where they could let their guard down.  
He had been listening to her motherly tender and caring voice,  
To finally be hearing those same strokes he felt as just an infant back on his planet from his mother.  
To finally meet peace after all of these years.

 _Is that what you're searching for and always have been, Megamind…?_

 _A way back home_


End file.
